Articles for category: Podcast

Corona Constitutional, Folge #53: Ein Recht auf Anonymität im Internet

Die Anonymität im Internet ist unter Beschuss: Das OLG München hat in der vergangenen Woche entschieden, dass Facebook seine Nutzerinnnen und Nutzer zur Verwendung von Klarnamen zwingen kann. Immer wieder kommt auch die Forderung nach einem "digitalen Vermummungsverbot" auf, um "sozialschädliches Verhalten" einzudämmen. ERIK TUCHTFELD spricht mit JOHANNES CASPAR, dem Hamburgischen Beauftragten für Datenschutz und Informationsfreiheit, über die Bedeutung von Anonymität für die Meinungsfreiheit und Möglichkeit, trotz Anonymität auch Hassrede und Straftaten effektiv zu bekämpfen.

18. Dezember 2020

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Corona Constitutional, Folge #52: Britische Verfassungskrise(n)

Das Brexit-Drama zwischen Brüssel und London zieht alle Blicke auf sich. Darüber übersieht man leicht den Streit über die verfassungsrechtlichen Grundpfeiler des Vereinigten Königreichs, der sich in den letzten Wochen und Monaten dramatisch zugespitzt hat – von der Rolle des Supreme Court bis zur "Devolution" in Schottland, Wales und Nordirland. Anlass genug für uns, über den aktuellen Zustand und die Entwicklung der ungeschriebenen britischen Verfassung zu sprechen. Wie hat hat sie sich im Laufe der letzten Jahre gewandelt, und ist sie den aktuellen Herausforderungen gewachsen? Darüber spricht Eva Neumann mit NICHOLAS BARBER, Professor für Verfassungsrecht und Verfassungstheorie an der Universität in Oxford.

11. Dezember 2020

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LawRules #12: We need to talk about Financial Sanctions

As our podcast comes to an end, the year and the German presidency of the European Council do too. One of the foremost projects of the German presidency has been to link EU funding and compliance with rule of law standards. The mechanism is going to be a part of the next long-term budget of the Union, starting from 2021 – that is, if Hungary and Poland vote in favor of it, which is increasingly unclear at the moment, or if a way is found to circumvent their veto. The connection of rule of law violations and EU money, the advantages and shortcomings of financial sanctions for member states as well as how things stand on the current proposal – that’s what we discuss in this week’s final episode of We Need to Talk About the Rule of Law that we wrap up with an outlook on the current state of the Union, rule of law wise.

9. Dezember 2020

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LawRules #11: We need to talk about the European Court of Justice

The European Court of Justice has been in the middle of the European rule of law crisis for the last couple of years – and it has called out rule of law violations especially in Hungary and Poland multiple times. But the Court can’t defend the rule of law in the European Union on its own, and it needs institutional partners in this struggle. For example, it needs someone to file cases and to follow up on the Court's orders. Does the European Commission do enough on their part? Who is the guardian of the Treaties – the Commission, the Court, none of the two? The European Council is able to decide on sanctions against member states using the procedure of Article 7 TEU. But that tool has not been effective so far. Does that mean that we witness the juridification of a political conflict that puts too much of a burden on the Court?

4. Dezember 2020

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LawRules #10: We need to talk about the European Convention on Human Rights

Europe is larger than the EU – and a European framework aiming at preserving basic rights and freedoms as well as rule of law safeguards has been in place for 70 years precisely this November: the European Convention on Human Rights. Today, we take a deeper look at the Convention and at the institutions that work to enforce it: The European Court of Human Rights and the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe. Are they capable of adding another layer of human rights and rule of law protection to the European legal framework? What kind of support do those institutions need in order to be able to fulfill their task? And how is their status today, 70 years after the European Convention on Human Rights has been signed?

25. November 2020

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Corona Constitutional #51: Corona im Bundestag

Heftige Szenen haben sich heute im Deutschen Bundestag abgespielt. Anlass war die Abstimmung über das die Änderung des Infektionsschutzgesetzes, die gesetzliche Grundlage für alles, was in diesen Tagen der zweiten Corona-Welle alles an Maßnahmen zur Eindämmung der Pandemie über uns hereinbricht. Diese Gesetzesgrundlage hatten zuletzt immer mehr Gerichte für unzureichend befunden. Darauf hat der Gesetzgeber reagiert. Ob diese Reaktion verfassungsrechtlich ausreicht und was der Streit darüber für den Parlamentarismus in Deutschland bedeutet, darüber redet Max Steinbeis mit HANS-MICHAEL HEINIG, Verfassungsrechtsprofessor an der Universität Göttingen.

18. November 2020

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LawRules #9: We need to talk about Refugees and Migration Law

We need to talk about refugees and migration law. In discussions about these topics, refugees and migration policy are often being treated as the other of politics and policy. But the way states treat those seeking refuge and asylum on their territory is fundamentally a rule of law issue, and actually says a lot about the current state of the rule of law there: Are refugees able to enter a jurisdiction and apply for their right to asylum? Are due process obligations being observed? Do refugees have access to justice? Does the European migration law system work?

18. November 2020

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LawRules #8: We Need to Talk About the Penal System

We need to talk about the Penal System. In European Criminal Law, there is consensus that criminal law should be ultima ratio, that is, the last resort when the law is applied and executed. However, criminal law and the penal system at large have also proven to be an efficient way to silence political opponents and citizens turning against the government by literally barring them from raising their voice in public. We have seen examples for this in Europe, and we’ll have to talk about that today. But there are more aspects to this topic: How are prison systems being used as a tool by autocratic-leaning governments? And how is the relationship between the penal system and the rule of law in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice that the European Union aspires to be?

11. November 2020

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Corona Constitutional, Folge #50: Warum Trump klagt

Die Wahl in den USA ist gelaufen, und es sieht doch eigentlich nicht schlecht aus für Joe Biden und seine Chancen, Donald Trump aus dem Weißen Haus zu vertreiben. Sollte man meinen. Aber neben diesem Wahlauszählungs-Spektakel läuft parallel noch eine ganz andere Partie, von der man nicht so viel mitbekommt, eine juristische nämlich, und die könnte es sein, die am Ende über Sieg und Niederlage entscheidet. Worum es in diesen Gerichtsverfahren geht, welche Strategie dahintersteckt und was das alles für die demokratische Verfassung im ältesten und größten demokratischen Verfassungsstaat bedeutet, darüber rede ich heute mit der Anwältin ANJA VON ROSENSTIEL, die in Boston lebt und in den letzten Monaten im Wahlkampfteam von Joe Biden mitgearbeitet hat und dieses juristische Spiel, das die Republikaner im Augenblick treiben, aus der Nähe verfolgt.

5. November 2020

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LawRules #7: We need to talk about Legal Education

As the last couple of episodes of our podcast have demonstrated, preserving the rule of law depends to a large quantity on people working in legal professions. What prosecutors, judges, attorneys, and, to a large degree, people working in the executive branch have in common, is a law degree. This means that we have to turn to legal education itself in order to find answers to the question how rule of law systems may remain or become resilient against authoritarian backsliding. Are current legal education systems in the EU equipped for this task? How are they affected by the turn to authoritarianism and illiberalism in a number of member states? And what are intrinsic shortcomings of academic and professional legal education?

4. November 2020

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